We went over Stevens Pass on the way - and it was a breathtakingly beautiful winter wonderland. The snow was coming down like mad, and there was a thick layer of snow and ice on the roadway. If you didn't have all-wheel or 4-wheel drive, chains were required.
Once we got past that fun stretch, we wound down past Leavenworth, Cashmere, and past all the vast orchards - the sun was shining and the sky was blue with fluffy white clouds sailing around - woohoo! It looked like summertime.
The hike itself was really lovely - a sagey desert surrounded by towering, crumbling columns and knobs of rock - basalt? Definitely igneous. The only sound was our footsteps and the cry of ravens. It was so peaceful. Now and then we did pass other hikers or mountain bikers, and they were all really nice and happy to also be out in the sunshine.
After about 2 1/2 miles we reached the ancient lakes area, and the farthest lake agains the bluffs had a waterfall pouring in.
We sat down and ate our lunch where we could see and hear the falls, and while we were eating, we saw a beaver swimming around in the lake.
On the way back there was a particularly large chunk of rock that had either fallen from the nearby cliff or possibly used to be connected and the material in between had eroded away.
We drove back through Snoqualmie Pass, as the conditions there were better than Stevens, so ended up doing both a loop hike and a loop drive. What a great day out!
